FantasticLand

Fascinating!

(rounded up from 4.5 stars)

This was a fascinating read. I heard the audio version and was really engaging. The documentary format is quite effective in audio format, with all the different voices describing their account of what happened.

To make an idea of what really may have happened by piecing together the different versions people describe of a single event is part of the journey. It was interesting to see the decay of the situation (even if the reasons why it happens are still a stretch), some characters we root for, some we don't, but they mostly feel very human. It had a few fun twists that came from some characters ideas to survive the situation, and a lot of maybe unnecessary but unnerving escalations for the same reason.

I take half a star because towards the end, the format changes when they interview the big bad, and i don't think it worked, felt the story drag from that. Also to choose the last interview to be the person they did took some momentum from the whole story. Still, it wasn't what I expected from a book that was free with the audible subscription. It was a really fun read overall!

Just didn't capture my attention, and wasn't something I was interested in. 

Updated my review from 3 stars to 4, because even though I initially disliked it, the story stuck in my head and I ended up rereading it. And listening to the audiobook. Uh, I actually really like this book now.

this book is a brilliant dissection of human nature and how far someone just like you would go to survive. i'm honestly mad at myself it took me this long to finish this book, but i'm definitely going to be reading it cover-to-cover next time.

First read of the year!

It was fine. I do think it could have benefitted from being a little longer - there were so many interesting ideas & characters that didn't quite flesh themselves out. But I'm a sucker for a battle royale-esque storyline so I still enjoyed it!

I kept putting off reading this book and now I don't why, this was a fantastic book. The story was haunting in the fact that it really felt like a story you could read about. Even though some of the characters were a little over the top, it still had a grounded feel that leaned it to feeling mor elikie a real story. It is an interesting look at what types of things can happen when young people are alone and affraid. The only bit I wasn't as big a fan of some of the emphasis on lack of technology being a culprit cause it felt a bit like boomer yelling for you to get off your phone. But overall was a very enjoyable book.

I was a bit nervous at first because it took me some time to really get into this book.
 But once I did, I really did. 
I was so immersed that I would forget that it wasn't real and would want to google something about it to answer more of my questions. 
The story is horrific and I still can't stop thinking about how awful people are because while I know this is fiction, I can so easily see something like this happening in real life too. 

the final chapter june 2024 bookclub pick: https://www.patreon.com/daijahsbookworld

i enjoyed this one a lot and the audiobook is really good. i just wish we had a lil more gore and it was more showing and not telling but with it being told completely through interviews, that's kinda just the nature of it.

this was everything I needed, I was invested from page 1 and there were some scenes I was actually scared about and that never happens. I felt like I was right there in the story and I love each interview and how it was always from a different perspectives and THAT ENDING was icing on the cake for me and I loved how it was able to pull the story together. I absolutely loved this book and the amusement park setting.

Rating: 3.64 leaves out of 5-Characters: 3/5 -Cover: 5/5-Story: 2.5/5-Writing: 4/5Genre: Horror, Thriller, Dystopian-Horror: 3/5-Thriller: 5/5-Dystopian: 3/5Type: AudiobookWorth?: YeahHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked LovedI heard good things about this on Tiktok. Should have realized that it wasn't going to be worth the hype. Don't get me wrong though. It is a good story and even how it is written in the form of interviews was nice but the story didn't hold my attention like I would have liked. For those saying why would a bunch of teens go crazy right after have never been in a hurricane or after and never been stranded. I am going to need those people to leave because it was so damn insensitive.

A knock-off World War Z with less character development and a shocking lack of real horror or real story. I tend to agree with the reviewer that called it more of a gorrer novel. It makes me wonder what could have been with this unique and disquieting premise, which is excellent, but it never developed. I think a traditional format would have served the story much better.

3:

Everyone was singing their praises for this book and I have a free Scribd subscription so I thought, what the hell I'll give it a go. It was a spur of the moment thing, I planned on finishing it over the weekend, but I was hooked and done in a day. Boy that was wacky.

I gotta say, the audiobook performance was stellar. It's only two people narrating the whole book! It felt like a full cast kinda thing, wow. The narrators were so talented, I feel like their performance absolutely enhanced the quality of the story. They portrayed each character in such a natural, human way, with sighs and stuttering and getting choked up, they had different accents for a few of the characters, too. My god, I'd listen to it again just to drink in the storytelling.

As for the story itself, it was okay. Not perfect by any means, it had its issues. I mean, I can sort of pretend the whole 0 to 100 pace everything took to get going deal wasn't as bonkers as it was, because I remember what people were like with toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic. It's ridiculous, but easily overlooked. And the time frame being confusing could be attributed to having a bunch of people telling their side of the story, and misremembering stuff, I suppose. What I REALLY didn't fuck with was the “aaah kids with their Facebook and their internet and their phones glued to their hands mutter mutter grumble grumble” thing that was brought up throughout the whole damn book. They seriously stated that all that shit went down because the “kids” didn't have their phones and were oh so very bored. For real? It was irritating.

However, I took this as a light (?) story that was meant only as entertainment and not as food for thought, and damn if I wasn't entertained. That one chapter, the one with the guy in the hotel? Nightmare fuel. Last night I had to convince myself to close my eyes and fall asleep, I was so scared.

There were also a lot of characters that I adored, like Jill, Sophie, and Clara, they were so badass. I liked Stu, and the guy from the hotel who's name I don't recall, and I really enjoyed Gregg's chapter, it was hilarious.

I feel like the book would've been wonderful if Mike had focused on more plot points instead of trying to pin everything on the youth's inability to think without a phone, but I'd still recommend this (the audiobook version, because I think it makes up for a lot of the issues) if you want a fun story and a quick scare. Hell, you could read the hotel chapter by itself as a stand-alone short story, it's seriously THAT good.

Fans of Lord of the Flies will like this one. The audio is amazing as it has a cast of people talking in interview style.

What happens when employees are stuck in an amusement park after a hurricane hits? Kids without social media. Adults in charge but no one listening. Absolute chaos and a lot of blood.

I already miss the theme park that never existed called Fantasticland.

This book was an epic disappointment. Plot holes abound, the characters were forgettable and interchangeable, and there are some pretty questionable (read racist and misogynistic) comments made by characters that border on feeling like author commentary. I'm willing to suspend disbelief to a certain extent but expecting anyone to believe that young adults will turn to murder and chaos because their phones don't work.

Early on in the book, one character named Johnny Fresno colorful exclaims: “fuck you for pissing on my dream.” If Mike Bockoven ever reads this review, I imagine he might mutter these same words. Here we go! Fantasticland was anything but fantastic. Although some chapters, characters, and ideas were compelling, and the audiobook benefitted from outstanding narration by Luke Daniels and Angela Dawe, overall the story was unbelievable and problematic. It wasn't all bad though, let me start with the good. FantasticLand is an amusement park, and the book basically tells the story of how a group of employees trapped in the park for weeks following a really horrible hurricane quickly descended into Lord of the Flies levels of dystopian chaos. The book is formatted as a series of interviews with the players, similar to World War Z by Max Brooks. The format works really well, and I enjoyed listening to the events of the novel told from many different points of view. One chapter about a guy hiding out in an on-property hotel really stood out. The character was interesting, rational, and likable. The chapter has some real tension and fear, probably one of the only sections of the book I'd really call horror. I also thought that Mike Bockoven hit on a couple of really compelling themes. One antagonistic character says something like “I cannot be held responsible for how people interpret events.” That stopped me cold. I actually put a note in the audiobook, which I almost never do. Despite being written in 2016, that statement punched out of its context and rang with a chilling truth and relevance in light of the events of January 2021 and the subsequent trial. That same character went on to ask “would you have stopped me?” I don't agree that the failure of others to stop him mitigates his actions, but I think Bockoven has captured a psychology of evil and asked a really compelling question here. I wish more of the book had been concerned with this question. Unfortunately much of the rest of the book was really beyond belief. Basically as soon as the hurricane hit and the lights went out the employees became violent. Why? This question was asked multiple times in the book, as the afterword reminded us: they had food and water. I think the rapid onset of killing and tribalism was unrealistic. If we were to compare this book to Lord of the Flies, it's important to remember that these characters were adults, in some cases very young adults, but still high school graduates (despite being constantly called kids in the novel). They weren't stranded on a deserted island, they were in a theme park with supplies. There is absolutely no reason for things to have gotten so bad so quickly. Some characters tried to blame the young characters being cut off from technology and social media, but I don't buy that. It was repeatedly stated that employees weren't allowed to have their phones, but I think that's a steaming pile of sht. Has Bockoven ever met a young adult (or a not so young adult)? I'm sure that even with a no phones allowed policy in place, dozens or even hundreds of people would have one anyway. At minimum they would have them in an employee locker (and toward the end of the book or was acknowledged that an employee locker room existed). There's no reason they wouldn't have had phones. A better explanation would have been no data or internet due to the hurricane, but even that seems unlikely for the length of time described in the book. I also don't believe that young adults would go all Mad Max over not being able to post on Facebook, Twitter, IG, or TikTok, but...hey...maybe my knee-jerk millennial reaction to “these kids couldn't survive without their phones” is blinding me to the profound impacts of being cut off from the internet? In any event, I also found it totally unbelievable that survivors wouldn't have been rescued by either the authorities or corporate much more quickly. Think of the liability and worker's comp claims! We know that the corporation knew the power was out, had access to satellite phones, and even had satellite images of the park. What kind of world ending cataclysm was this hurricane that they couldn't get these folks out? It was suggested that the hurricane was really bad due to climate change, but I don't believe how slow the response time was or how little the company did. If something like this happened at Disney or Universal, I bet they'd get people out within a few days at the absolute longest. In addition to the premise being totally unbelievable, the book also discusses women in several ways that made me uncomfortable. At one point a group of characters is described as kidnapping women and then one character has this long discussion about how there wasn't any raping, and if there was raping it was someone acting alone. It was weird and gross. Other terms like “b***” are used by male characters in ways that I didn't like. Another character describes a woman's “huge rack.” Overall, the way women are viewed, treated, or referred to by some of the men in the book is pretty gross. I'm not saying this reflects the author, but I question the need to write these kinds of attitudes? These attitudes may not be totally unrealistic for some young people (or not so young people), but I still didn't love listening to them. Overall, despite its many shortcomings, listening to FantasticLand wasn't a total waste of time. It was entertaining. It's not one of the best books I've read this year, in fact it might be one of the worst, but I'd listen to Luke Daniels read just about anything. This book definitely qualifies as anything. There are some good parts of the story, such as the format and even some of the themes, but these merits could not overcome the premise which stretched suspension of disbelief to the point of snapping. 3 stars overall. 5 for narration, 2.5 for story.

2 stars.

I didn't buy it.

I like the format, story was sometimes tense and interesting but in the end it doesn't make any sense does it?

When the writer mentioned his ideas about the event at first, I thought very far fetched but lets see how it goes.

But at the end of the book it lost all its credibility when the writer put all the violence and murderousness in the park for the same reason and stressed it even more than before. It is a dumb reason and doesn't make any sense.

The audiobook was great tho. Narrations by Angela Dawe and Luke Deniels were top notch. They made everything much more tolerable.

I listened to the audiobook and it was great. I enjoyed the format - oral history/interview and the commentary on our generations and their attitudes.

A 3.5 stars.
What happens when stranded teens and young adults are cut off from the world (and social media)? This account of how the young employees of an amusement park “Fantasticland” degenerate into murderous tribes is told from the viewpoints of the survivors. At turns horrific and annoying (some of the voices truly, truly grated), the story reminds us that young people may all be capable of violence, once the edifice of civilisation crumbles away.

This had to be one of the most unique concepts for a story that I've read in a long time! Cleverly executed and holy hell what a ride.

Chilling. Truly chilling. Two things really stick with me:

The killing couple. They were masked the whole time, and an urban legend to those who never saw them, so they may have mingled amongst the other kids by day. No one knows who they really were, and they're out there. And there are real people like that, waiting for a chance or an excuse to hurt people. The horror movie The Strangers was inspired by true events—people hurting people because they can, because of the shield of isolation. Then...the postcards. So many ramifications behind those. I actually got chills finishing that chapter.

The new company's choice for the park. Pay to pretend you were there. In our murder-entertainment culture right now, where podcast hosts giggle over stories of murder, this is not far-fetched from reality. Therein lies the deep horror.

Heard the audiobook, which was great, with different narrators for each character. This made it easier to imagine how the characters acted and thought. The author manage to keep the story interesting throughout, by connecting the dots across the different interviews. Not perfect or too realistic, but absolutely entertaining. I would love for this to made into a TV show or a movie!

FantasticLand. An fictional amusement park in Florida where “fun is guaranteed!”. Everything was fine until Hurricane Sadie hit. Then it became a nightmare.

Told through a series of interviews, readers discover the grisly details about what actually happened during those 5 secluded weeks at the park.

This book is not for the feint of heart. It is downright disturbing, yet impossible to put down. It plays on your emotions and asks the ultimate question “What would you have done?”.

All my reviews can be found at The Tiny Reader's Reference! Come on over and say hello!Short & Sweet: [b:FantasticLand 28695606 FantasticLand Mike Bockoven https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459328318l/28695606.SX50.jpg 48893366] is a horror novel that requires no paranormal element to be terrifying; it is a story of how a single spark can ignite an inferno of uncontrolled evil within the perfect conditions. This will stick with you long after you???ve closed the book.Hoo boy, where do I start.First and foremost ??? [b:FantasticLand 28695606 FantasticLand Mike Bockoven https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459328318l/28695606.SX50.jpg 48893366] is authentic. That???s what made this novel work so damn well, and it requires no suspension of disbelief. From the very first page, Mike Brockoven pulls you in without permission, and expertly weaves each person???s view into an overarching storyline that will answer some questions, but give rise to others. The interview-type storytelling works phenomenally for this, and elevates an otherwise basic horror story to a chilling level.Each interview is singular, and told only once in a rough chronological order of events. Previously interviewed characters make a reappearance in other???s recollection. You wait with baited breath, knowing with every turn of the page that things are going to get much, much worse ??? and just like that, we are tipped over the cliff of no return, and shit gets real, fast.The shock of all this continues, wave after wave, until I had to walk away from the sheer intensity of this book. The horror of it is both instant and slow, and the imagery creeps into the recesses of your mind after you???ve put the book down. It will make you second guess your neighbor, your friend, your boss. Truly, its what isn???t spoken about that makes your mind run wild:Then you???d go to the next location and it would be out-and-out looting and every man for himself. No, I don???t want to talk about the three nursing homes that made the news. Not at all.We never do find out about those three nursing homes. But do we really need to know? Do we even want to?The violence is not glossed over, but told plainly and vividly in the personality of each interviewee ??? and each one has a particular, but subtle, voice. This is not a slaughterhouse, but the narration of young men and women cornered and pressed into a fight or flight situation. It is an accumulation of very stupid, but very human, decisions.Speaking of decisions ??? they all were legitimate. Often, I would get frustrated and ask, Why aren???t you swimming? Why aren???t you hiding here? Why isn???t anyone going there? and you find out in subsequent interviews that yes, those routes were tried, with disastrous results.The ???tribes??? are almost comical when viewed with an outside lens, like pristine Disney characters parading through a creepy haunted house. But then tidbits like this will dot across the page:???When Carlos stumbled back into the park, The Pirates got him.and the smile dies on your lips as you steadily begin to realize the horror of what that means.The only drawback to [b:FantasticLand 28695606 FantasticLand Mike Bockoven https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459328318l/28695606.SX50.jpg 48893366] is Mike Brockoven???s attempts to illustrate the consequences of social media addiction, and it falls absolutely flat in that regard. It seems almost awkward at times; pitted against the stark violence and fear, and chalking it up to lack of WiFi and digital entertainment. I would implore that this is more a narration on the human need for leadership in a time of trial, no matter how morally sound or twisted the leader may be ??? and how things can go poorly very quick in a literal life or death situation, when the hope of outside assistance has died away and fear becomes the primary driving force.At the end of the day, even after you close [b:FantasticLand 28695606 FantasticLand Mike Bockoven https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459328318l/28695606.SX50.jpg 48893366] and return to the real world, it will creep up on you; flashes of memory when cooking, or cleaning, or talking with a neighbor who lives far too close. This is one I won???t forget any time soon, and worthy of every single star awarded.